Deep Culture Matters 1 UNCORRECTED PROOF Tan, C. (2011). Deep culture matters: Multiracialism in Singapore schools. International Journal of Educational Reform, 21(1), 24-38. Deep Culture Matters: Multiracialism in Singapore Schools Charlene Tan Abstract Multiculturalism is more accurately described as ‘multiracialism’ in Singapore as the government classifies everyone based on four racial identities according to one’s paternal line: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others (CMIO). Exploring the principle and practice of multiracialism in Singapore schools, this paper points out that the surface culture approach is adopted where the emphasis is on learning the observable and shared cultural manifestations such as food, attire, religious and cultural festivals of the three ‘races’. Arguing that the surface culture approach is inadequate for students to develop cultural competence, this paper proposes the adoption of a dialogical education that underlines both surface culture and deep culture. Through practical dialogue and critical dialogue, students are encouraged to go beyond ‘race’ to deep culture matters in terms of the underlying beliefs, values and assumptions that motivate the behaviour of others.